The Rise of Power
by New Guy the First
Summary: When a new villain arrives, he obtains all he needs to wreak havoc among the world. It's up to Sonic and his friends to stop him.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog related characters. They belong to Sega/Sonic Team_

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**The Rise of Power**

**Prologue**

Shadow the Hedgehog walked along the moonlit road. He couldnt sleep that night. He found himself in deep thought, wondering about the people who called him a friend. Sonic... Knuckles... all of them. _"They've always been kind to me,"_ he thought to himself, _"Maybe it's my turn to return the favour? To show them the kindness they had shown me?" _He wondered if being so distant to them was a mistake, perhaps he should embrace their friendship before he lost it...

Meanwhile, Knuckles had called it a night, in a make-shift tent he had made, only a few feet away from the Master Emerald. He mumbled to himself as he dreamt, but just outside was a familiar metallic hedgehog. Metal Sonic stood infront of the Master Emerald's shrine thinking to himself (or atleast what would be considered thinking, were he organic)_ "It's too easy," _He knew there had to be a catch... but what? Deciding to take the risk, he slowly (and quietly, as to not wake the inhabitant of the tent) stepped closer to the shrine. He was merely inches away and about to pick up the large jewl when he felt something snag his foot. He looked down, to see the spiky hand of the red echidna grabbing his leg. In moments, Metal Sonic was being pulled away from the shrine at an emence speed. Knuckles spun, while holding on to Metal Sonic's leg and hurled him face-first into a nearby rock. Metal Sonic, feeling rather rickety after the trip, pryed his face out of the rock, only to be met by an unpleasant surprise when he turned to face the echidna. Metal Sonic was impressed with the guardian's strength, despite the fact he was on the receiving end of his spiked fist. Falling to the ground, the machine decided he was no match for the trained fighter, and sped off into the distance. Knuckles, seeing his opponent flee from him, wiped the dust off his hands and smirked. "Someone's always trying to get something." He commented.

_Author's Note: Any tips on writing better, or corrections for mistakes are appreciated. This is my first fic,and I'd like to improve._


	2. Reconciliation

**Chapter 1: Reconciliation**

It was a sunny day on Mobius, when a familiar blue hedgehog was waking up to the sounds of birds chirping. "ugh..." He mumbled, as the sun shone in his tired eyes. He immediately perked up, as he caught a wiff of something being cooked. "Smells like... bacon!" The hedgehog rushed downstairs to see his fox friend cooking at the stove.

"Tails, I'd lecture you about using the stove when you're alone, but that stuff just smells too good."

"I knew you'd see it my way," said Tails, "Besides, I'm smart enough to know how to use it without setting the house on fire."

"Whatever, just feed me." said Sonic, as he sat at the dinner table. "Hey, what's this?" asked Sonic, as he pointed to an envelope on the table.

"It's an invitation from Shadow, Apparently he's having some kind of get together tonight."

"That doesnt sound like Shadow. Isn't he usually afraid of crowds? Whatever, I aint turning down an invitation to party."

Sonic's face then lit up with glee, as Tails placed a plate with a juicy omelet and a few sizzling strips of bacon on it in front of Sonic's face. Sonic began scarfing down the food and doing a fairly good job of making a mess at the same time.

"Looks like everything's ready." Said Shadow, as he admired the little decorations he added around the house in preperation for his party. His deep thought was interupted by the sound of knocking from the front door. Shadow excitedly ran to the door, as he was at first worried that no one would come and opened the door to see none other than Espio, Vector and Charmy. Shadow couldn't help but let out a tiny smile.

"Glad you could make it." Said Shadow, as he opened the door wider, and moved aside to let them in.

"Party! Party! Party!" yelled Charmy, as he flew into the house.

"Charmy! Clam down before you break something!" Yelled Vector, following him inside the house.

Espio quietly walked in, nodded to Shadow and sat on the couch to make himself comfortable. Shadow waited silently for more guests to arrive, when he looked out the window and saw Sonic walking towards the house with a few people coming with him. Shadow went to the door, opened it and saw Sonic dragging Blaze the Cat by her arm. She seemed somewhat flustered.

"Sorry," Sonic said, "She's not really used to parties."

Shadow then gestured for them to go in, as he opened the door wider. Sonic let go of Blaze's arm and walked in, followed by Tails who was right behind him. Blaze, was thinking of just walking away right there, but she saw the welcoming smile on Shadow's face and decided that maybe she could stay... for a little while atleast.

After a while, Rouge, Amy and Cream arrived for the party and everyone enjoyed themselves. Amy, of course, clung to Sonic for most of the party, while Shadow spoke with Blaze.

"So you come from another dimension?" asked Shadow.

"Yes, I am the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, back in my own dimension. A while after I returned home from the adventure with Sonic, Eggman-Nega attacked again. After the calamity, he was presumed dead, and I decided the Sol Emeralds would be safe enough on their own."

"And you came to stay with us..."

"Sonic and Cream taught me that I could find friends who would accept me for who I am."

This made something in Shadow spark. He looked around the room, at everyone enjoying eachothers company. All except Knuckles, who declined the invitation and would not dare leave Angel Island after someone had attempted to steal the Master Emerald. It was getting late when Shadow called for everyone to quiet down for a moment so he could say something.

"you guys... you guys call me your friend. But I have not been acting like a friend. I invited you all here to apologize and to ask for the chance to start fresh. Please forgive me for the harsh things I've done. I treasure your kindness and will never forget any of you."

A tear rolled down shadow's face. He fought back so that the whole river wouldn't be let loose in front of the crowd. Sonic, then stood up and started to clap, while the others followed suit. It was that moment that Shadow felt a new feeling deep in his chest. He really cared about his friends and was happy he could finally show it. He was glad for the fact that they accepted him without question. They really were good people.

A while after things had calmed down, the front door of Shadow's house burst open and Knuckles stumbled in, almost collapsing. He looked as though he had been in a scrap, and was panting enough as to suggest he came all the way from Angel Island on footm with a bit of swimming, of course.

"Knuckles!" yelled Sonic, "What happened!"

"Metal Sonic... got the emeralds..." Knuckles managed to say, before he collapsed and blacked out.


	3. A New Mission

**Chapter 2: A New Mission**

All was blurry for Knuckles, when he finally came to. He faintly heard Sonic's voice coming form over his head. "Bout time!" he yelled, and was abruptly hit in the back of the head, by Amy, "Sonic, don't be rude!" she said. Sonic ignored the comment and rubbed the back of his head.

Knuckles sat up, trying to remember what was going on, when he thought about the Master Emerald. Everything then came back to him in a flash, "The Emeralds!" he yelled, "Metal Sonic stole them... I've failed as a guardian." Knuckles then hung his head down in shame.

"Whoa, now! Hang on a sec," said Sonic, trying to understand the situation, "Mind filling us in on the details?"

"Well..." Knuckles was furiously trying to recall all the details of the incident. "Metal Sonic came back to try to steal the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds, after trying to steal them earlier. But this time he had a little help."

"Help?" Shadow said, "From who?"

"It was a tall robot with glowing green eyes. I tried to fend him off, but he was too good of a fighter." Knuckles said, looking down at his hands. "He caught my every punch..." Knuckles clenched his fists in anger, wishing he could have done more to protect the emeralds. "The thing was relentless, I couldnt get up after it had thrown me into the ground. A while later, after recovering, I saw that the emeralds were all gone, and so I came here as quickly as I could."

"So, now Metal Sonic and this mysterious new robot have all the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald!" asked Sonic, "What is he going to be able to do with those?"

"I dont know..." Knuckles said, in a rather upset tone. "I've never seen anyone try to tap into the power of both the Master and Chaos Emeralds at the same time. But I can only imagine that the user would recieve power beyond belief."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Shadow, with a rather serious tone. Everyone turned towards him, curiously."If we want any chance of getting the emeralds back, we're gonna have to take action quickly."

Knuckles nodded, "Right! I may have let the emeralds fall into the wrong hands, but I can still get them back!"

"Do you have any idea where Metal Sonic may be, right now?" asked Shadow.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to look. They could be anywhere, perhaps in hiding with the emeralds. Although I dont understand why they haven't used them yet. Surely they could have tapped into its power by now. I'd imagine we'd be the first targets."

Espio, who had been leaning against a nearby wall with his eyes shut, finally walked forward and spoke up, "If we have no leads to their where abouts, we should atleast check the Shrines for possible leads. It's the logical choice." Vector, at hearing this remark, smiled and folded his arms as if to say "That's my boy!"

Knuckles' face lit up, when he saw the others helping him when he needed them most. "Alright then! We should head over to Angel Island...uhhh, Tails? Do you think you could fly us over there in the tornado?"

"Sure," Tails said, "but we cant all fit in there. Who's gonna come?"

Sonic and Shadow immediately stepped forward upon hearing this, and Vector nudged Espio over, "You should go, Espio." The crocodile said, "They'll need your detective skills." Espio nodded and stepped forward.

"I'd like to help you, too." Blaze said, as she also stepped forward, "I feel obligated, as I too am a guardian in my world."

Tails left the house, to go get the Tornado from his Garage/Workshop. Shadow turnded to Vector, and the crocodile smiled. "Don't worry, Shadow" he said, "We'll clean the place up for you, while you're gone."

Upon hearing the engine revs of the Tornado, Knuckles and the ones who were coming with him to Angel Island exited the house and piled into the plane. It was a tight fit, but they managed just fine.

It was still dark outside when Sonic and company had left Shadow's house. Arriving at Angel Island, the group of heroes inspected every inch of the area. Espio had found some prints in the ground as it would seem that this new robot friend of Metal Sonic's was indeed quite tall and heavy. He left fairly deep prints in the ground, that also showed the robot was built as a bi-ped. Something new they'd learn about their crafty theif (except Knuckles, who'd already seen him before). However, the prints did not seem very important when Blaze mentioned something.

"Guy's, I sense something strange..." she said, "I can feel the power of the Sol emeralds... from my homeworld," Off in the distance, back on the mainland, some dark clouds were gathering, and Blaze pointed to them, "There! Something's happening there."

Knuckles also felt something, "I can feel it, somone's tapping into the power of the emeralds!"

"Back into the Tornado, we're going for another ride!" Tails yelled, as he headed for the plane.

As the Tornado got closer to the where this mysterious force was taking place, Tails decided to land the plane, as he didn't want to fly it too close to the storm that was taking shape. He and the others hopped out of the plane. "This way!" Blaze gestured for the group to follow her as she dashed off towards an abandoned warehouse. While entering the warehouse, Blaze and the others froze as they saw Metal Sonic, in his super form(The kind you see in Sonic Heroes) standing in there path, and a tall figure aside the Master Emerald. Blaze pointed towards a strange light that was formed near the Emerald, "He's opening a portal to my dimension!"


	4. Betrayal

_Disclaimer: This new robot bad guy dude? yeah, i** do** own that guy._

**Chapter 3: Betrayal**

He stood near the Master Emerald, everyone getting their first look of him. He stood six feet tall (which is almost twice the height of each member of the Sonic crew), and looked as though he was either built to look like some sort of creature Sonic and his friends had never seen, or used to be a creature that was roboticised. The robot's head was slightly elongated, and came to a sharp point hanging at the back. It's eyes were glassed, round and green. He had two artificial fangs hanging from what seemed to be a small breathing apparatus at his mouth. His body was encased in thin, flat, steel plates with thicker steel plates covering his chest, shins and forearms. A tattered cloak hung from a studded belt around his waist and he slowly turned his head towards the comotion that had disturbed his concentration. Then, Metal Sonic spoke up to the group of heroes.

"It's a shame you had to come all this way, just to die a pointless death." he said.

"You're going to try to steal the Sol Emeralds, aren't you?" Blaze yelled, getting ready to stop them from fleeing through the portal.

"How, very perceptive of you..." Metal Sonic looked towards the portal that was slowly getting bigger, then turned towards his companion, "Kaitan, the portal is big enough, please take care of these fools, while I go ahead to collect the Sol Emeralds."

Kaitan... that was the name of this new figure. Everyone looked towards him, curious of his response. Blaze wasn't going to back down, but she had to admit; he looked pretty intimidating.

"I'm afraid I won't be doing that," Kaitan responded, in a deep chilling voice.

Metal Sonic tried to decifer the message, only confusing himself, "What?"

Kaitan let out a small sadistic chuckle. "you weak fool... I would thank you for showing me the location of these precious gems, but I must be on my way, to collect the rest." Blaze would have attacked by now, but the current happenings resulted in utter confusion, and all she and the others could do was watch with a dumbfounded look, waiting to see what would happen next.

Metal Sonic was clearly getting angry, "Nobody double-crosses me!" He looked at his waist, as if trying to find something.

Kaitan held up a small sack in his hand towards Metal Sonic, "Looking for these?"

"You stole my emeralds!" Metal Sonic yelled, clenching his fist.

"What are you gonna do about it? You think you can stop me?" Kaitan picked up the Master Emerald and held it over one shoulder, while clutching the sack of Chaos Emeralds in his other hand. "Get in my way, and I'll turn you into a heap of scrap." He turned towards the portal, while Metal Sonic stood still, watching his former ally, not knowing what he should do. He was clearly no match for his new foe.

"You're not going anywhere!" Blaze yelled, charging at him. At the sound of this, the six foot monster dropped the sack of emeralds, turned around and at the same time, let loose at fisted back-hand while still holding the Master Emerald over his other shoulder. Luckily, Blaze had moved out of the way enough, at the last second to avoid taking too much damage, but was still hurt. She stumbled aside and held herself up against the wall.

Shadow's eyes widened and he ran to Blaze, to see if she was hurt.

Kaitan turned away, clearly not threatened, and picked up the sack of emeralds off the ground. "Is anyone else planning on trying anything funny?" he said, as he looked over at the group where Blaze was standing.

Knuckles growled at the statement, and was about to charge at the monstrosity, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Espio looking at him, and shaking his head at him. Knuckles knew that he stood no chance, and with that, Kaitan stepped through the portal and disappeared from view.

"We have to go after him! We can't just let him get the Sol Emeralds next, he'll be unstoppable!" Blaze said, as she regained her composure. "We have to get the Sol Emeralds before him."

"Let's not be so quick," said Espio, stepping forward. "We must avoid head on confrontation. Wait for him to pass far away from the portal before we head through. We may not be able to over power him, but we can still out smart him. Stealth will be our weapon."

"We'll get the Sol Emeralds from right under his nose!" said Knuckles, cheering up at the brilliance of this new plan.

Sonic turned to Tails, and knelt down in front of him, "You have to stay here, little buddy."

"What? But Sonic, I can help!" Tails retorted.

"I know, but it's too dangerous. Also, we need you to stay so you can tell the others we'll be gone for a while. We can't have them running around looking for us."

Tails hung his head down in sadness, until Sonic lifted up his chin and said, "Cheer up, buddy. We'll come back, I promise."

Shadow walked towards Metal Sonic who had been staring at the portal since Kaitan left. "Who is he? And where did he come from?"

Metal Sonic turned towards Shadow and and was silent for a moment. "He had been working silently as a bounty hunter for anyone who would pay him good money. I told him I could give him ultimate power if he'd help me... that is all I know." Metal Sonic then turned back towards the portal and slowly walked through. Shadow and the others who saw what happened decided to let him go. He wasn't much of a problem anymore.

"It's about time we head on, now" Espio said, "Once through, Blaze can direct us towards the Sol Emeralds."

One by one, they all walked through the portal, until Sonic was the last one left. He turned towards Tails and gave him a friendly salute, then continued through the portal.


	5. Always Hope

**Chapter 4: Always Hope**

Blaze found herself in a lush green forset, with the sun peeking through the tops of the trees. It was day time in this dimension. she walked a few feet out of the forest to find herself on a hill overlooking much of a city that was indeed, her hometown. A palace could be seen in the distance and that was her home. _"It's good to be back."_ she thought as she stood still for a moment, taking in the beautiful scenery. The others then came up from behind her.

Espio said to Blaze, "I'm sorry Blaze, but we cannot stand idle. Which way to the Sol Emeralds?"

Blaze pointed to the palace down in the city, "They're in that palace."

Sonic started walking down the hill, slowly stepping into a jog. "Well let's get this job over and done with." he said, as he sped off. The others followed suit, as they passed through a street that seemed like the place where vendors would set up stalls and showcase their goods for people to buy. As the gang came speeding through, a lot of people had to double take, at the speed they were going. Of course Sonic, Shadow and Blaze were at the head of the group with their super-speed, but the others were still no slow-pokes.

Sonic was the first to reach the palace front doors, and turned towards the others as they caught up. "Bout time," he snickered, and turned towards the front doors. "So we go in here? Is anybody home?"

"There will be some guards, making sure the palace is safe, but most of it will be empty." said Blaze, as she began to open the front door.

Blaze began to run through the halls with the others following her, until they came to a small room, that was at the far back of the palace and seemed quite far out of the way. They then saw the sacred jewels, the Sol emeralds, each on it's own pedestal scattered around the room.

"wow," Knuckles said, as he looked around the room, "I wish I got to live in a palace while I guard the emeralds." Blaze ignored the comment and stepped towards the center of the room.

Shadow looked around the room, "We should get the emeralds and hurry on outta here. This isn't exactly the best place to be hiding from a power crazed monster." he turned towards the door and froze as he saw Kaitan standing at the only exit.

"Well what do we have here?" said Kaitan, as he walked further into the room. Espio, at hearing the voice of Kaitan instincively Camouflaged himself. Knuckles started to sweat, "But how!" Kaitan laughed and looked towards him. "Simple... I followed you here. I think I shall also make this lovely place my new home... a good headquarters for my future faction with which I will dominate your world." Blaze felt someone tap on her shoulder and heard Espio whisper into her ear. Blaze nodded to show that she understood.

"Guy's, new plan! we're getting outta here, full speed!" She grabbed Knuckles' arm and ran right towards the door. Kaitan moved out of the way, only caring about the emeralds, did not want to bother with the annoying creatures if they did not have them.

"As long as I get the emeralds," he looked at the pedestals and saw that they were gone, "How is this possible! They were there, when I entered!" He growled and lost his composure, as he was not very used to losing.

Meanwhile, Blaze and the others had kept running on, until they reached the one hill spot, where they had over looked the city. They stopped running and were panting a tad, as they gave it all they had to get out of there as fast as they could.

Knuckles the spoke to Blaze, after giving her a bit of time to catch her breath, "Why did we run? What about the Sol Emeralds?" Knuckles looked around, "...And we left Espio behind!"

Blaze looked at Knuckles and smiled, "Don't worry, about it. It's all under control." Just then, Espio appeared right in front of the group, holding the Sol Emeralds, in his arms. "Did ya miss me?" the chameleon said, cracking a tiny smile.

Sonic gave Espio a congratulatory slap on the back, "Camouflage... nice one, Esp!"

"Now what are we going to do?" Said Shadow, with a slightly worried tone, "We may have the Sol Emeralds, but can we really defeat Kaitan?" the smile on Espio's face turned to a more serious look, "He may have more power than us, but we have strength in numbers. And if we dont at least try to stop him, then both our worlds will be in trouble."

Espio placed the Sol emeralds on the ground and turned towards the view of the city. A beautiful sunset was taking place. "We are **not** giving up without a fight."

_AN: A little short this time, sorry about that. i hope to get some action in soon_


	6. Alliance

**Chapter 5: Alliance**

Kaitan made himself comfortable in the throne room of the palace. The Master Emerald placed behind the throne with the Chaos Emeralds on top of it. Kaitan's head perked up, as he saw a figure entering the room.

"I see you've finally arrived, Volvo." said Kaitan, as he stood up and stepped closer to the figure.

He was a towering creature, almost seven feet tall and reminiscent of a dragon. He had two large swirling horns on his head, and his skin was a scaley red. His legs were built like the hind legs of a dog or horse, he had a metal plates covering his chest, forearms and the lower half of his legs and a plate of metal over most of his head, with a glowing blue light shining from his eyes. Perhaps the most odd feature was that he had no mouth. He did have nostrils at the end of what would be called a snout, but had no lower jaw. He was artificially enhanced (or partially roboticised, for a more familiar term) and spoke from a small mechanical speaker on his chest plate. It was a deep, low pitched sound.

"Lord Kaitan," he said, "Our plan is in progress."

"Excellent," Kaitan turned and began to walk up to the Master Emerald, "If all goes well, we shall have our own army with which to conquer this whole wold."

"What about these foolish theives?" said Volvo, "The ones who stole the Sol Emeralds?"

"They are a pain in my backside," said Kaitan, "and nothing more. I still hold the Master Emerald **and **theChaos Emeralds. They will fall before me, just like everyone who has ever opposed me."

In the alternate dimension, another new face was travelling towards a large base with the insignia of Dr. Robotnik pasted on it. He was another dragon-like creature, but with much smaller horns that did not curve, a black mask covered most of his face. He was almost six feet tall, and had some type of large gun slung across his back. There was a chain of bullets wrapped around his torso, and he had large metal gloves over his hands. He walked closer to the base, when a voice could be heard from a speaker. It was Robotnik's voice.

"You there! Stay where you are, and state your business in these parts. You have entered the territory of Dr. Ivo Robotnik."

The mysterious creature put his arms up into the air, to show that he meant no harm and spoke, "My name is Rasideon, and I've come to offer you the power of Chaos."

Silence filled the air for a moment, until the large metal doors of the base slid open, and out came Robotnik, flying in his trademark pod with two drones following him on the ground (most likely serving as bodyguards). He stopped in front of Rasideon, who then lowered his arms, and hovered. "The power of Chaos, you say?" His large mustache, hiding a deep smile on his face.

"I have been sent here by my leader, who wishes to make an alliance with you. you, create for us an army of robotic soldiers, and you can rule the world with us."

Robotnik wasn't sure what to make of this. He had tried to take over the world before and failed every time. What could this newcomer possibly have that could change things?

"What about this power of Chaos you mentioned?" Robotnik said, folding his arms across his chest, and leaning back in his seat.

"We have obtained both the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds. We understand you have a little... rodent problem. We can deal with the hedgehog and his friends, while your robots take over the cities."

Robotnik began to think about the proposal and decided that he liked the idea. "Very well... I accept, but how will I be able to contact you once I've made a sufficient number of robots?"

Rasideon turned and began to walk away as he said, "We are the ones who will contact you. Make sure you build powerful robots. They may be the last ones you ever need." and with that, he disappeared from site.

Robotnik pushed a button on his console, then landed his pod and got out. A working droid flew up to his master and stopped. He placed his goggles over his eyes, smiled and turned towards the droid. "We have work to do."

It was late night, Shadow looked into the moon as he sat down with the warm summer night breeze in his face. Shadow turned to see Espio standing behind him, also looking into the moon. Espio looked down at Shadow.

"You should get some rest with the others. Tomorrow we strike."

Shadow resumed looking at the moon and was silent for a moment. "I have a bad feeling, Espio. I dont think it's going to be that easy."

Espio turned away and closed his eyes, "Nothing worth doing is ever easy." he walked away towards a tree, leaned on it and fell asleep.

Shadow thought about these wise words. Wise words from a friend. He leaned back and stared into the starry night before drifting off into sleep.


	7. The Battle

**Chapter 6: The Battle**

In a bright flash of light, the heroes we once knew changed into ultimate beings of power. Sonic; gold, shining fur, Shadow; so bright, that he was almost white with a tint of gold, Knuckles; Pulsating between red and a bright white, Blaze; her coat turned red and flames engulfed her wrists and ankles. And finally, Espio who had never been super before. He Pulsated between his usual magenta colour and a bright white. The heroes looked at eachother and Sonic scratched the back of his head, thinking about something.

"So, we just charge right through the front doors, and take him out?"

Espio answered, "Pretty much, but we need to do it fast. Before he even realizes we're there. Or else he'll try to use his emeralds against us."

Sonic smirked, "Hehe, don't worry. Fast is my middle name." With that, he began to float into the air, "You guys comin?" and he blasted off towards the palace. The others quickly followed suit.

The large front doors bolted open, and the group of powered up heroes stormed inside and saw Volvo in the center of the large foyer.

"Who are you?" Sonic said, dumbfounded.

Volvo swished his spiny tail (did I mention he had a tail?), and snorted. "He said you'd be coming."

Shadow interjected, "You're with Kaitan!"

"Yes, but don't worry. He'll be with you soon, he's just... charging up."

Espio's eyes widened. All of the sudden a large explosion came from the city, and the screams of civilians was heard. The group instantly turned around and saw smoke rising from the city. Espio flew out to a higher level to see what was going on and saw the city being ravaged by robots. They had the insignia of the Doctor Robotnik on them. The others came up to see what the commotion was about.

"It's the Doctor!" yelled Shadow, as he pointed to the crazed scientist, floating around in his hovercraft.

Sonic, became furiously angry. Robotnik just had to come at the worst times... but how did he switch dimensions?

"Bad timing, Eggman!" Sonic began charging towards him, but was swatted out of the air before he reached his foe. Kaiten was floating in the air, brandishing a double sided spear. There was a black aura surrounding him. Like a fog, with a positively evil feeling. Sonic hit the ground hard, but was able to regain his composure and stand up.

Dr. Robotnik chcuckled at the site of Sonic being pummeled, "You see Sonic, we've made a little arrangement."

Kaitan continued, "I will be taking care of you, while the city is taken care of by the droids." Kaitan pointed to Shadow, "You're next!" Then, he charged at Shadow, at a speed no one was expecting. He stuck the spear out in front of him, in an attempt to impale Shadow. Luckily, Shadow moved off to the side and dodged, but as soon as Kaitan realised he missed, he stopped and spun around, hitting Shadow in the head with the spear as if it were a bat. Espio quickly flew up and grabbed the spear, each one holding an end. The others took there chance, and began to fly straight at Kaitan's head. Knuckles landed a heavy punch, and Blaze proceeded to kick him in the stomach. Sonic then flew up behind Kaitan, and grabbed him in a choke hold.

The sheer number of people fighting against Kaitan confused him. But once Sonic grabbed his neck, he let go of the spear with one hand, grabbed Sonic of his back and threw him, once again, towards the ground. Espio took advantage of the the enemy, let go of the spear and was about to kick him in the face, but Kaitan grabbed his leg. Shadow turned to see Espio, now being

hung upside down by his ankle.

Kaitan threw Espio up into the air, and hit him hard with the spear, and he went hurdling towards the ground. Espio tried to get up, but fell to his knees, and clutched his stomach. Kaitan flew down to the ground and stood in front of Espio. Espio looked up, to see the evil figure standing in front. He knew the end was near.

"Espio!" Shadow began to fly to the rescue, but was beaten to the punch.

Espio closed his eyes and lowered his head, bracing for whatever beating he was about to get, when a loud sound, like a jet engine came from the ditance, and it was coming closer. He looked up, just in time to see Kaitan being tackled off his feet, by Metal Sonic. Kaitan rolled along the groun in an almost comical way, almost doing cartwheels.

"No body double-crosses me!" said Metal Sonic, shaking his fist at the fallen villain. His attention then turned to Espio, and he offered a hand to him. Espio looked shocked, but accepted the hand and was able to get up.

Shadow flew down to Espio, "Are you okay?" Espio nodded to show that he was alright, and he turned towards Kaitan who was slowly getting up.

"You fools!" Kaitan clutched his spear and held it tight. "You can't win!"

Three of Dr. Robotnik's combat droids stepped up beside Kaitan.

"Bring it on, metal head!" Knuckles yelled, clenching his fists.

Shadow looked around nervously. More droids had come to help Kaitan. All different kinds of them. They were completely surrounded. Espio thought... he knew what needed to be done.

"He's right..." Espio said, the others freezing, and curious as to what Espio meant. "We can't win..."

The other began to look around, at just what they were up against.

Sonic looked down at Espio, almost in disgust. "Are you saying we should just let them win? What about all the innocent people in the city?"

Espio shot back a stare like daggers, "You'll be no good to them when you're dead!"

They knew Espio was right. They were outmatched. Shadow lifted into the air and turned towards the others.

"C'mon! Let's get out of here!", and with that, they all shot out of the circle of droids, Espio and Shadow heading the point.

Espio yelled to Shadow, "We use the Sol emeralds, and get back to our home dimension. It will be safe there, if the Doctor is here... We will come back and free them, Shadow."

Blaze looked back, to see Kaitan right on their tails. with the power of the Master emeralds, and the Chaos Emeralds, he was able to keep up with them.

"He' following us!" she yelled.

Espio looked back, and Shadow noticed that Espio was slowing down.

"Espio, what are you doing?" he yelled, slowing to his pace.

"I have to slow him down! Get out of here!"

The others went on, not realizing what Espio was up to. Shadow stared at Espio, not wanting to leave his friend.

Espio's voice began to take an angry tone, "Go!" he pushed Shadow onward.

Shadow flew onward, and dared not look back. All he could do was try to fight back a tear.

Espio turned towards Kaitan, who was slowing down, and getting ready to fight. Espio took a deep breath, and took a fighting stance. After one last deep breath, Espio was ready. "It is likely I go to my doom..." and then he shot towards Kaitan like a bullet.

As Sonic and the crew stepped out of the portal and emerged in the other dimension, Sonic looked back as Shadow finally came through.

"Where's Espio?" he asked Shadow.

Shadow looked at the ground for a moment, looking for the right words.

"Shadow?" Sonic and the others began to get worried.

Shadow looked up, with tears and anger in his eyes. "He wanted to give us enough time... to let us get away."

Everyone was quiet. no one dared to break the silence.

"I think we should call it a day..." Sonic said, who began to walk away, most likely headed home. Slowly, the other began to do the same, until all that was left was Shadow. He waited late into the night, hoping that Espio would come. Finally, the portal closed, on its own.

A small wild chao came up to Shadow and started pulling on his leg, wanting Shadow to play a game with him. Shadow picked up the chao and pet its head. He looked up into the sky and repeated the familiar words "Nothing worth doing is ever easy" The chao perked up, and looked at Shadow curiously. Shadow looked back down at the chao.

"...Just something a good friend of mine said."

**The End**

_... for now_

* * *

**The Sequel is in my profile. "Deal with the Devil"**


End file.
